Black Valentine Beans
$8.99
Black Valentine heirloom beans deliver the kind of rich, almost chocolatey flavor that makes you understand why this legendary variety has captivated black bean lovers since it was first introduced in 1897. The texture is silky and luxurious with a robust flavor that you can't forget but it's the broth that keeps me coming back. They make an outstanding black bean soup or simply cooked with some garlic and bayleaf and served over rice.
These deep black gems are grown with love and care by our friend Chris Capaul, whose family has been perfecting rare bean varieties since 1915 in the Sacramento Valley California. Chris has spent years developing this unique breed in the Valley's warm climate, carefully selecting seeds to create dried heirloom beans with superior texture. Each farm-fresh bean cooks up beautifully with deep, wine-like notes that come from Chris's careful soil management and innovative crop rotations—these are unpolished, old-fashioned beans that are a true throwback to the days gone by.
- Single Origin, Heirloom Variety
- Non-GMO
- Grown without Glyphosate, Soil-boosting rotations, supports healthy watersheds, natural weed control
- Broth notes: rich, full bodied, luxurious
- Pair with: garlic, onion, cumin, chilis
Whether you're making Cuban black beans, Brazilian feijoada, or just serving them over rice with good olive oil, these premium dry beans from small farm cultivation taste like the earth itself—the kind of specialty beans that make you excited to cook and proud to support sustainable agriculture products.
Cooking Guide: Pressure Cooker unsoaked - 28 minutes | Stovetop unsoaked 60-90 minutes. They love gralic, onion, and bayleaf in the pot. Add olive oil for an even more velvety broth. The skins tend to split towards the end of cooking so test frequently after 60 minutes if you want the skins intact. See our complete guide to cooking beans.
1LB
Fresh Beans = Last Year's Harvest! Don't worry—this is actually when beans are freshest. After fall harvest, they spend winter being carefully processed and are bagged fresh each spring. So 2024 beans in 2025 means peak freshness! We believe beans are best within 2 years of harvest (others say 3), ensuring you get the finest quality.
Cooking Notes
Harvest Info
Better beans come from healthy soil.
We partner with family farms committed to nurturing healthy soil—the foundation of truly exceptional beans. Our single origin beans have the farmers name and harvest date right on the package. Non-gmo, glyphosate free and always grown with traditional farming methods the way nature intended.
Bean Cooking Guide
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After much research we've put together the definitive guide to cooking heirloom beans.
Heirloom Bean Cooking Times
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Your guide to cooking heirloom beans to perfection—bringing out their unique flavor, texture, and heritage in every pot.
FAQ
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Beans are harvested once a year, typically in the fall. After harvest they are dried, cleaned and processed and finally put into bags and ready for you in the spring. Sort of like wine, last year's harvest is this year's beans! We put the harvest date and farmer on every package so that you can keep track in your pantry but once you try our beans, they won't last long.
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Our modern, corporate food system prioritizes efficiency and cost cutting over flavor and nutrient density. To get a bag of beans to your grocery store for just a few dollars they mix together beans from farms all over the globe, keeping them in huge bins and transporting them from broker to wholesaler to distributor to store with identical bags stamped with a best by date that is at least 3 years from harvest. We choose to be radically transparent, even though its much harder and costly, because we think that everyone should know exactly how their food was grown and who grew it. Honoring the people who are doing farming differently is one of our most deeply held values and thousands of happy customers agree.
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Regenerative is a fancy way of saying that you grow things the old fashioned way, in harmony with nature and not against it. We only partner with farms that prioritize soil health and use traditional farming methods because we know that better tasting beans come from healthy soil.
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The weedkiller glyphosate (aka Roundup) is not used for the production of any of our beans.
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The majority of our beans are certified organic however not all small farms can afford the process of certification. All of our beans are glyphosate free and our partner farmers where chosen for their incredible growing practices, prioritizing soil health and people health.
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We could spend all day talking about all the reasons to love dried beans:
- One bag of beans equals 3 cans of beans, from packaging to shipping dried beans are better for the planet with a much smaller carbon footprint.
- Unique heirloom varieties.
- You get the bonus of a pot full of magical bean broth instead of mystery liquid that you'll rinse off.
- They soak up liquid as they cook — which means any aromatics, herbs, and spices you add will infuse your beans with even more flavor.
Canned beans are super convenient but if you batch cook beans and freeze them in the cooking liquid it's nearly as convenient as canned and way more delicious! Check out our guide to freezing beans.
- One bag of beans equals 3 cans of beans, from packaging to shipping dried beans are better for the planet with a much smaller carbon footprint.
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Our farms and facilities do not grow, store, or process nuts, soy, or peanuts, so there is very little risk of cross-contamination. However, if you have a severe sensitivity, please use caution – none of our beans are certified by a third-party as being free from these allergens. Our co-packer does handle products containing milk and eggs, but the machine used to handle our beans does not come into contact with these allergens. In the case of gluten sensitivity, beans are often grown in rotation with wheat and other grains, which is the case with a handful of our farms. However, these crops are not grown in the same field at once and in the rare case that wheat kernels get mixed in, they would be removed during the cleaning process. As always, we recommend rinsing beans in clean water every time, even when they appear clean, and inspecting for small stones.
